Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114311

Darlene Messina, MSO, Division of Disease Control, Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH), 500 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146, Jessica Robbins, PhD, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, 500 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146, 2156856426, jessica.robbins@phila.gov, and Suet Lim, PhD, STEPS to a Healthier Philadelphia, Philadelphia Dept of Public Health, 1101 Market St, 9th Fl, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Typical planning and policy projects lie outside the public health sector, and decisions about the built urban environment are often made without regard for their potential impact on a community's health. Responding to a state government requirement, Philadelphia's Managing Director's Office brought together various municipal agencies in 2000 to develop an action plan to address the City's non-attainment status of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. This gathering set the current framework for intersectoral collaboration. Prior to the greenhouse emission reduction plan, public health's presence in the municipal planning process was intermittent. Capitalizing on opportunities to address health impact in city projects between 2000 and 2004, the Health Department was able to strengthen the partnership between public health and other municipal agencies. Intersectoral partnerships in which the Health Department has demonstrated a valuable role include an action plan for sustainable energy management and an open space management plan. The Health Department now sits on the Open Space Planning Committee, which coordinates city policy in this field. This Committee plans to test a Rapid Health Impact Assessment (RHIA) protocol in 2005. RHIA is a tool to measure the positive or negative effects of policies, programs or planning decisions on the health of the population. While we anticipate challenges in integrating RHIA into municipal planning activities, the readiness to use this tool is a testament of the strength of a partnership between municipal agencies in which attention to public health is increasingly consistent.

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